Hewlett-Packard Co.'s standards of business conduct suggest that employees pose themselves a simple test to decide whether an action is appropriate: "Before I make a decision, I consider how it would look in a news story," the document states.

Mark Hurd, who was fired Friday as the computer giant's chief executive, would appear to have failed that test.

The H-P board asked for Mr. Hurd's resignation in large part because of the conflict between his actions and the code of conduct, which he publicly championed in 2006 following a boardroom scandal, H-P said.

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Joseph Grundfest, a professor at Stanford University's Law School and former member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said H-P directors also could have considered a private or public reprimand and financial penalties. "When all this comes out you'll have directors of other companies saying we would have dealt with it differently," he said.